Rigorous documentation: A research superpower

One sure — and often underestimated — way to increase the chances of research projects succeeding is rigorous, systematic documentation of research activities. This doesn’t mean slavishly following archiving conventions. Rather, it means documenting research activities according to conceptual schemas that arise from the main research aims. Ideally, these should be embedded in the design of the materials used for documentation.

When research activities get going, a lot is produced. If treated too casually, the mass of audio files, transcripts, flip-overs, photos, interview notes, post-its and feedback emails can quickly turn into a massive hairball that no-one can unpick.

Out of this ball of confusion grow real risks. If there is no accessible external memory of the most important responses, conclusions, milestones and insights, teams have no way of correcting the inaccurate memories that inevitably creep in, leading to misleading preliminary conclusions — and worse, a blurring of the original research themes and focus.

In the worst case, this can lead to weak, ineffective conclusions that aren’t actionable. And when results are challenged, the team cannot retrace its steps and show exactly how it arrived at them.

Tips to create transparent documentation

Here are a few best practices that have helped us lead research teams to successful results:

Decide a conceptually sound structure for the tools used to record the results of individual research activities. It should be flexible enough to accommodate anomaly, but simple enough to facilitate real-life use on location. For example, instead of simply transcribing interviews and having team members go through them and share notes, create a worksheet with a matrix of themed categories into which you can immediately organise participants’ remarks, so they can be compared more easily in relation to the research themes. Include an ‘extra’ category for observations and insights that don’t readily fit into any category.

Require all team members to consistently use the worksheets and other tools specially created for the purpose. It’s a matter of discretion how strict you are about this, but the more consistent, the better. Explain why this is important in the beginning, especially when collaborating with client teams whose regular work may not require this kind of rigour.

Document and share promptly after research sessions, while all impressions and thoughts are still fresh. That way, nothing gets lost, and the team has more time to review and process all the results equally well to prepare for interim analysis meetings. Document emerging insights from these meetings the same way.

Begin interim analysis with relevant excerpts from previous meetings and documentation. Refresh everyone’s memory about what’s been discussed and decided to date.

Last but not least: don’t trust memory and common sense alone! Review the documentation as often as possible to keep important points top-of-mind and ensure you’re not unconsciously re-shaping past results.

But isn’t the ‘best’ way to work different for everyone?

I often hear: “But people are different, and everyone has a different way of making notes and making sense of things. What works for one might not work for another.” Of course, you’ll need to sometimes accommodate individual differences. However, we’re more similar than different when it comes to fundamentals.

In our experience, it’s precisely a well-ordered, rigorous approach that anchors the team and creates common ground amid individual differences, enabling members to focus on the content of the research and progressively sharpen their intuition about what is and isn’t most important.

Project memory: recreating the results and the context

The documentation is your memory of the project, both during and long after it’s completed. Ask yourself: will someone who opens these folders and files years from now be able to reconstruct the context and clearly follow the process, in its various levels of detail? The transparently ordered project archive is one of the most valuable things we produce. It gives us access to years of cumulative, collective intelligence and expertise.

In a workshop hosted by STBY during the Service Design Days in Barcelona on the 5th and 6th of October 2018, we prototyped ideas for new service concepts in response to the What Design Can Do Clean Energy Challenge.

Gone are the days of lugging around clunky recorders, hefty cameras and brick-like hard drives to interviews and observation sites. The design researchers of today need only bring along a smartphone hooked up to a few complementary gadgets and software to capture and save quality audio, video and images.

STBY recently went to Nairobi to work with local design research partners on the preparations for the latest Global Design Challenge on Clean Energy. Through workshops with creatives and energy experts we explored local energy issues and developed a better understanding of the Kenyan perspectives on climate change.

When research activities get going in earnest, a lot is produced. If treated too casually, the mass of audio files and transcripts, flip-overs and mini-posters full of post-its, photos, interview notes and feedback mails can quickly turn into a massive hairball that no-one can unpick.

There are now more things connected to the internet than the number of people in the world. Many of these devices are inside our home, from Bluetooth speakers to smart coffee machines and fridges. In the future, even our plates and curtains might be hooked up to the internet. The house will then resemble a lab, in which we are the studied subjects. How much alcohol do we drink? How often do we wash our hair, or cut our nails? Are we snacking more than usual? Spending longer in front of the mirror? Maybe the homes of the future will know.